


Weakness is Weakness

by SkinnyProcrastinator



Category: Once Upon a Time (TV)
Genre: F/F, Sexy Times
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-10-31
Updated: 2016-01-17
Packaged: 2018-04-29 04:22:12
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 13,053
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5115587
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SkinnyProcrastinator/pseuds/SkinnyProcrastinator
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Regina realises that she is having trouble keeping up with her younger girlfriend and decides to take action.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

Regina flopped heavily onto the bed and attempted to catch her breath. 

"Wow," Emma sighed as she flopped down beside her. "That was incredible."

Regina just panted heavily in reply.

"You okay? Do you want me to get you some water?" Emma asked and smiled at her naked girlfriend.

Regina shook her head causing stray hairs to stick to her sweat-drenched forehead. After a moment she pushed herself up slightly onto her elbows and conjured a cool glass of water directly into her hand. She glugged the liquid down quickly before her shaking hand placed the glass on the bedside table. 

Emma gave Regina a soft kiss on her cheek before rolling over and jumping out of bed.

"W-where are you going?" Regina questioned exhaustedly. 

"I was thinking of going to go for a run and then I'll have a quick shower before bed," Emma replied. “If that’s okay?”

Regina nodded her head in confirmation.

Emma picked up abandoned clothes off of the floor and sorted them into the correct laundry hampers before heading into the bathroom, humming as she went.

Regina rolled heavily onto her side and stared at the closed door as she listened to the sound of Emma washing up after the exhausting session of love making. Well, exhausting for some. 

It had been six months since Henry finally got his mothers to see sense and ditch their unsuitable boyfriends in favour of each other. At first Regina had worried about compatibility, clashes between Mills and Charming genes. She worried if they actually had anything in common and if they would manage to find anything to talk about. 

Before long it was obvious to both women that they were perfect for each other. Being together was easy and their relationship moved from strength to strength at a quick pace. Even in the very early days both confided deep secrets which forged a deeper relationship between them. Her relationship with Emma was hands down the closest Regina had ever been to someone.

Ever the worrier, Regina constantly wondered what would happen to destroy such a perfect partnership, thoroughly convinced that it wouldn't last. She dreamt of her mother returning from the dead to crush Emma's heart, or Emma deciding that Regina’s past crimes were too much to bear or even family tearing them apart.

But, to her surprise, the Charmings welcomed her without hesitation, Emma shrugged off tales of Regina’s previous deeds and Cora remained dead.

Everything seemed perfect but then, after five months together, Regina found it. The problem with their relationship, what would eventually break them up. It was Regina.

Regina felt old. Despite only being seven years older than Emma she felt ancient in comparison to the lithe blonde. Emma was fit and healthy, she was strong and trained daily to keep in shape. Regina was slim and ate well but had little physical strength, zero stamina and did precisely no exercise.

Their backgrounds in law enforcement and royalty starkly displayed the differences in their fitness levels and those differences were most obviously on display during sex. 

Soon after their sixth date they simultaneously decided to no longer ignore the sexual urges they felt for the sake of propriety. And as soon as Emma had disrobed it had been immediately obvious to Regina that Emma was in excellent physical condition, something she enjoyed immensely. Emma was strong enough to easily lift Regina and her stamina kept her able to pleasure Regina for hours at a time. 

However it soon became very clear to Regina that she was unable to keep up with Emma's pace. After they made love Regina would struggle to keep her eyes open as her heart hammered in her chest and she panted for breath while Emma would seem almost unaffected. 

Five months ago when Emma had suggested introducing toys into their bedroom activities Regina had been excited by the idea. Sex toys were not a thing back in the Enchanted Forest so the opportunity to explore was a thrill. 

Emma particularly enjoyed when Regina wore the harness and strap-on and while Regina enjoyed the addition to their sessions, it highlighted the lack of physical strength that Regina possessed. 

Emma never mentioned anything but Regina felt terrible and knew it would just be a matter of time before Emma ended their relationship, opting to be with someone able to keep up with her.

Fortunately Regina had constructed a fool-proof plan. She certainly wasn't about to sulk until the best relationship she'd ever had crumbled around her, she was too proactive for that. 

Regina had decided to attempt to avoid sexual situations while she embarked on an intensive fitness schedule to build up her strength. And while this, her first attempt at avoiding sex, hadn't been all that successful she made an exhausted mental note to do better next time before drifting off to sleep.

***

"Emma must not find out about this," Regina repeated to Ruby for the third time.

"Yeah, I heard you but I'm still no clearer on why you are keeping secrets from Emma." Ruby lifted the sports bag from the truck of the Mercedes.

"That's none of your concern," Regina said as she looked up and down the empty beach.

"Actually, it kinda is," Ruby argued. "Emma is a friend and you're asking me to sneak around behind her back at the crack of dawn while she is working the night shift."

"And I'm paying you handsomely for it," Regina argued. "Besides, you make it sound so sordid. We're not sneaking around I’m just accompanying you on your workout sessions."

"I told you I'm not accepting your money, Regina," Ruby sighed. "And you're accompanying me on my workout that you've made me move to a time I didn't even know existed."

Regina put her hands on her tracksuit-covered hips. "The sooner we begin the sooner we finish."

"As your personal trainer I need to know what your goals are," Ruby replied, a twinkle in her eye.

"To get fit, of course."

"What do you mean by that? Strength, stamina or-"

"Stamina," Regina quickly interrupted with a blush.

"Ah." Ruby nodded knowingly.

"Ah, what, Miss Lucas?" Regina asked, her voice dropping to a dangerous level.

Ruby grinned, fear of the Evil Queen was a distant memory since Regina had been in a happy relationship and everyone is Storybrooke was happy to put the past in the past.

"I think I understand, you want to keep up with your young-"

"Miss Lucas," Regina hissed, the blush intensifying.

Ruby held up her hands. "Okay, okay, before you threaten to fireball me to next week...it's fine, I get it, really. It's really great that you are willing to do this for Emma. Luke won't even shave his beard for me."

"Then I'd re-evaluate that relationship," Regina commented, happy for a slight change of subject.

Ruby inclined her head in agreement and took a deep breath as she looked at the beach, the sun just beginning to rise.

"Okay, we'll start with a warm up, some stretches and stuff and then we can jog for a bit and see how you feel."

"Don't feel the need to go easy on me," Regina said. "I don't want you to slow down your workout to accommodate me."

"It takes time to build up stamina, you can't go from nothing to a marathon overnight."

"We'll see." Regina rolled her eyes. "I'm not as old as you think."

Ruby blew out a breath, her mornings were about to become much more frustrating.

***

Four days into training and Regina was more depressed that ever. Her back hurt, she felt more exhausted than she ever had before, her hips were agony and she'd pulled a muscle in her foot that she didn't even know existed.

She'd managed to keep the injuries secret from Emma and looked on the bright side that avoiding sex would be easier now she couldn't walk properly never mind spread her legs.

But she still wasn't getting the results she wanted, she felt more tired rather than stronger. In fact she had progressively achieved less and less over the four mornings with Ruby.

The morning workouts were clearly not enough so Regina decided to add to her exercise program. It didn't take long to decide to add horse riding to her new schedule, she enjoyed it and knew that it was good exercise.

She brought up her calendar on her laptop and overlaid Emma's calendar on top, she wanted to keep the exercise a secret so she needed to do it when Emma was working. She quickly found space to book in three riding sessions per week and then found an extra five hours of potential exercise time. 

She thoughtfully tapped her finger to her lip as she constructed a new training plan. For Regina more was more and with the lacklustre results she had achieved so far she was ready to up her game

***

"Regina, I'm home," Emma called as she closed the front door behind her.

"Shh," Henry whispered, entering the hall from the kitchen and looking nervously towards the living room.

"What's up?" Emma asked with a frown.

"Mom is asleep," Henry whispered.

"Asleep?" Emma questioned.

"Yeah, she sat in the living room and five minutes later she was asleep."

Emma edged towards the living room and looked in. She raised her eyebrow at the sight of Regina slumped in an armchair.

Emma had been trying to convince Regina for weeks to replace the living room furniture with 'real' furniture. The current furniture was more for show than comfort and Emma complained about it endlessly. She saw no point in having living room furniture that was uncomfortable, Regina had initially attempted to argue the point but eventually conceded.

Emma looked at Regina's position and reasoned that the woman must have been utterly exhausted to have fallen asleep. With a flick of her head she silently dismissed Henry and carefully approached Regina.

Black marks under Regina's eyes carefully disguised with makeup had been apparent for a couple of weeks. Emma hadn't said anything but she had carefully watched Regina and was concerned by what she saw.

Unfortunately Regina was not the kind of person to open up to questioning, usually choosing to hide the truth even deeper if it looked like she had been found hiding something.

"Regina," Emma whispered as she knelt in front of her. "Regina." Again, this time slightly louder.

Hazel eyes flickered open. A moment of disorientation followed by realisation. Regina bolted upright, wincing in the process.

"Emma," Regina blinked to wake herself fully.

"Regina, what's going on?" Emma cut to the chase, not wanting to give Regina time to wake properly. "You've been utterly exhausted these last two weeks, going to bed early and now falling asleep in the world's most uncomfortable armchair."

"Work," Regina replied too quickly. "I'm sorry, dear, you know how it is."

"Not really," Emma countered. "End of the tax year was three months ago. Budget provisioning isn't for another four months. No big events coming up, no monsters-"

"Are you saying I'm not busy?"

Emma sighed, her girlfriend was on the defensive already. "No, just that you're no busier now than you were two months ago but you're exhausted. You nearly fell asleep at Granny's last week."

Regina stood up stiffly. "Well, maybe you should have thought about that when you got involved with an older woman."

Regina walked from the room, attempting to mask a limp.

"What?" Emma followed her into the hallway. "What are you talking about?"

Regina paused on the steps and turned around. She looked at Emma before smiling. "Just a joke, dear. I'm just tired, not been sleeping so well lately. I'll be fine, I'm going to go and have a bath."

Emma watched Regina turn and ascend the stairs. Something was clearly up but Regina wasn't about to divulge exactly what it was.

***

"What's going on?" Emma asked Henry when she entered the kitchen.

Henry started at Emma's hard tone. "I'm doing my homework," he explained.

Emma shook her head. "Sorry, Henry, I didn't mean to take it out on you. I meant what's going on with your mom?"

"She said she's tired." Henry shrugged his shoulders.

"Well she's never been like this in all the time I've lived here." Emma sat at the kitchen table.

"You've only lived here for six weeks," Henry pointed out.

"Oh, you've been counting have you?" Emma asked with a grin.

"I just remember dates," Henry said with a shrug.

"Then tell me the last time your mom fell asleep in the living room like that? I'm guessing by your reaction when I came in that it isn't usual."

"I don't think she's ever done it," Henry said while nervously chewing on his lip.

"So why is she doing it now?" Emma asked.

"I dunno..."

"Then, like I said, what's up?"

"I don't know, she wouldn't tell me anyway," Henry pointed out. "You're her girlfriend."

"Well she doesn't tell me these kind of things either," Emma replied sulkily.

Henry smiled over at Emma. "So...is it time for a new operation?"

Emma regarded Henry for a moment as she considered the idea. She knew something was going on with Regina but she didn't want to invade her privacy. But if Regina was going to carry on like nothing was wrong then she had little option.

"Maybe, kid. Leave it with me."

***

The evening progressed quietly. Once Regina finished her bath she read a book in the living room while Henry played on his portable video game.

Emma drifted around with uncertainty in her mind, attempting to analyse Regina but finding nothing. Eventually she sat in the living room and sipped at her mug of coffee and watched her newly forged family.

While the relationship was still in its early stages Emma considered the time before to be the dark days. Everything before having both Regina and Henry in her life was now technically thought of as wasting time.

Hook was a mistake, it was obvious to her now. She was with him because he loved her, she knew in her heart of hearts that a relationship with a pirate with a questionable redemption story was wrong. But Emma's life had been hard and love was something that rarely came by and certainly never stayed. Having someone who loved her no matter what was intoxicating but most of all it was safe. She didn't really believe in love so had written off any chance of having an equal and loving relationship from an early age.

But one evening shortly after the darkness had left her she had been spending time with Henry and he had forced her to open her eyes. After a narrow call of nearly losing both his mothers Henry had decided he could hold his tongue no longer. He told Emma in plain terms what he really thought of Hook and left Emma with a lot to think about. Emma realised that Hook loving her just wasn't enough, she couldn't live in fear of never being loved.

Emma watched as Regina turned the page of her book and smiled. When Snow had told her that Henry had given Regina a similar speech about Robin and convinced her to ditch the thief, Emma didn't waste any time. She'd taken a huge risk all those months ago by turning up to the Mayor's office with a single red rose and a dinner offer.

Regina hesitated for a moment, later admitting the hesitation was through fear that Emma was playing a joke. But soon a time and venue was agreed upon and neither had looked back.

"Henry," Emma spoke, breaking the silence. "Didn't you want to see that movie?"

Two dark haired Mills' looked up at her.

"What movie?" Henry quizzed.

"The one where I give you some money and you leave the house for a few hours," Emma said, pulling her wallet out of her jeans pocket.

Henry grinned and put his video game down before jumping out of his chair. "Oh! That movie!"

Regina watched with amusement as Henry grabbed some money out of Emma's hand and kissed them both on the cheek before dashing to the hallway to leave.

Regina raised her eyebrow towards Emma and smiled before following Henry to the hallway and issuing him the standard safety instructions and curfew information.

When Regina returned to the living room she stood in the doorway and looked at Emma with a grin.

"And just what was that about Miss Swan?"

"I was remembering our first date." Emma stood and strutted towards Regina with her hands in her pockets. "Then I remembered our first kiss."

Regina smiled as Emma wrapped her arms around Regina's waist and pulled her close.

"Then I remembered another first."

"Oh yes?" Regina became breathless.

"Yes, and I realised how much I've missed you."

Regina wrapped her arms around Emma's neck and pulled her in closer. "Then what are you waiting for?"

In the blink of an eye Emma had transported them both to the bedroom, the mist of white smoke evaporating as Emma lifted Regina into her arms bridal style.

"Emma!" Regina complained gently.

Emma ignored the protests and walked over to their bed. "Yes, my queen?"

Regina shivered, she had previously admitted that she loved it when Emma called her that. When the title was used in the past it was never for good reasons but Emma's loving reverence mended the bad memories.

"Put me down," Regina whispered, a smile gracing her face.

Emma held Regina above the bed and examined Regina's face with a grin.

"Of course, my queen," she said before dropping Regina onto the soft surface with no warning.

Regina cried out in surprise but soon started giggling. Emma pulled off her boots and the second she had discarded them she crawled on all fours to straddle Regina.

Emma kissed Regina softly on the lips and then started to move onto her cheek and then onto the sensitive spot on Regina's neck. Soft kisses turned into wet kisses, tongue and teeth connected with Regina's skin and Regina gasped softly.

Regina reached for Emma's sweater but Emma quickly captured her hands and held them down to prevent Regina disrobing her. Regina let out a frustrated sigh and shifted beneath Emma's body.

Emma lowered more of her weight onto Regina and raised Regina's arms above her head and held them in place with one hand. She loved to feel Regina gently struggle and oh so quickly give in and enjoy the sensation of Emma pleasuring her.

Emma traced her way around Regina's neck before placing her lips back over Regina's and sliding her tongue into Regina's waiting mouth. Emma felt Regina's tongue quickly meet with her own and intensified the kiss.

Her free hand moved lower to begin massaging Regina's breast through the soft material of her dress. Emma shifted her bodyweight to nudge the tight dress further up Regina's hips and slid her jean-covered thigh in between Regina's legs.

"Tease," Regina whispered into Emma's open mouth.

"Oh, I'm not teasing," Emma replied as she gently rolled her hips.

Regina gasped at the sensation and Emma chuckled. "If I were teasing, you'd be tied up and I wouldn't have even touched you yet. No, this isn't teasing at all. This is about me pleasuring you. Okay?" Emma punctuated the question with a harder thrust and Regina moaned deeply.

"Get on with it then," Regina said huskily.

Emma let go of Regina's hands and yanked down the deep v-neck of the dress exposing Regina's bra-clad breasts.

Regina let out a growl at Emma's roughness and Emma responded by lowering her mouth to Regina's breast. She bit Regina's nipple through the lacy material causing Regina to buck.

Emma took more of Regina's breast into her mouth and grazed the lace material with her teeth. Her free hand made quick work of nudging Regina's underwear out of the way and her fingers traced around Regina's mound.

Regina gasped loudly and Emma smiled around the breast. Emma loved having her way with Regina and driving the older woman wild with desire. In fact, Emma considered it her mission to physically demonstrate to Regina how much she loved her. Having Regina boneless, panting for breath and satisfied was always Emma's end goal in the bedroom.

Emma slightly scraped her fingernails around Regina's inner lips, causing her to arch her back.

"Let me get this dress off," Regina whimpered.

"No," Emma replied softly. "I like you dishevelled."

"Emma," Regina whispered, struggling as the dress constricted her movements.

Emma took as much of Regina's bra-clad breast into her mouth as she could and bit down. At the same time she slid two fingers along Regina's wet lips and plunged them into Regina's tight hole.

"Oh! God, Emma!" Regina gasped.

Emma prided herself on having learnt a variety of ways to pleasure Regina and enjoyed putting them into practice quickly.

With her teeth she tore down Regina's bra cup and sucked hard on Regina's nipple, swiping at the hardened nub with her tongue.

Regina's arms were trapped by the rucked up material of her dress but she managed to clasp a hand to the back of Emma's head. Regina held her head firmly in place as Emma's fingers found a fast and familiar rhythm while her thumb gently grazed Regina's sensitive clit.

"Nnng," Regina cried, holding Emma closer to get chest.

Emma's fought back and escaped Regina's grasp to sit up slightly to pump her hand faster.

"You're so wet, it's been too long," Emma told her with a mischievous chuckle.

"Emma!" Regina cried, her hand now grasping at the bedding beside her.

Emma nudged Regina's leg apart a little more before adjusting her position to thrust faster to take Regina over the edge.

"Oh, oh, oh, yes, oh, oh, Em-ma, oh, oh," Regina panted in time with each fast thrust.

"I love fucking you hard like this," Emma said as she watched Regina start to come undone.

"EMMA!" Regina cried. Her back arched off of the bed and her thighs shook as the orgasm took over her body.

Emma slowed the thrusting, easing Regina down from her high.

"I will never get tired of seeing you come," Emma said as she slipped her fingers from Regina's wetness.

As Regina caught her breath Emma pulled down the side zipper on Regina's dress and carefully helped a boneless Regina out of the garment.

"So beautiful," Emma whispered as she stared at Regina dressed only in lacy black bra and panties. It was true, Regina was beautiful but Emma’s stare was caused by concern for the amount of weight Regina had lost in a short space of time.

Regina smiled shyly before clearing her throat. "If you've finished ravaging me I'll take my turn now."

Emma laughed. "Oh, I'm not done with you yet."

Regina raised an amused eyebrow. "Oh really? And do I get a say in this?"

"No, I told you, this is about me pleasuring you," Emma informed her. "And like I say, I'm not done yet."

Emma grabbed Regina's ankles and spun her over so she was laying on her front. Before Regina had time to react Emma climbed onto her and straddled her ass.

Regina pushed her elbows up and managed to push Emma off of her and quickly turned and found the button of Emma's jeans with her fingers.

"Na-uh," Emma said, easily capturing Regina's hands. "None of that."

Regina pouted. "You're not playing fair."

"Yeah, I'm truly terrible, wanting to pleasure you with no thought for my own pleasure," Emma laughed lightly.

"Maybe your pleasure is my pleasure?" Regina said as she again moved to try to unbutton Emma's jeans.

This time Emma allowed Regina the chance to unbutton the jeans.

"That's funny," Emma said. "Because you don't scream and buck and pass out from my pleasure."

Regina pushed Emma hard in the chest and smirked when she fell backwards into the bed.

"Such a brat." Regina shook her head while pulling Emma's jeans off. Next she pulled her socks off and then leant forward for Emma's panties. As soon as she did Emma grabbed her and pulled her close, Regina squealed and tried to escape. 

After some tossing and turning Emma got her way and ended up laying on her back while holding Regina close to her, Regina's back to Emma's chest.

"Gotcha," Emma said, tightening her grip with one arm while the other drifted downwards towards Regina's hips.

"Sex crazed," Regina whispered while fighting lightly against Emma's superior strength.

"Yes, that particular trait appeared around the same time we got together," Emma confessed. "You do something to me, Regina."

Emma's hand found the wetness at the apex of Regina's thighs. "And seems I do something to you," Emma commented, pleased to find Regina soaked.

"Yes, yes you do," Regina admitted.

Emma sat up while still holding Regina, settling the older woman between her legs and reaching around Regina’s body to play with her clit.

"Oh, Emma..." Regina whispered. "God!"

Emma held Regina tightly against her own body and whispered sweet words into her ear in between the occasional kiss to Regina's neck. All the time she drew small, light circles around Regina's engorged and sensitive nub.

“Fuck,” Regina whispered.

Emma chuckled to herself knowing that Regina only swore sparingly and knowing that it meant Regina was already close to her second orgasm.

“Let go,” Emma whispered into Regina’s ear. Regina shivered in delight at the sensation. 

“Oh!” Regina moaned low and loud as she ground her hips in time with Emma’s maddening rhythm.

“Come for me,” Emma whispered again. “Come for me so you’re nice and wet for when I take you with the strap on.”

Regina gasped and Emma felt a fresh flood of wetness coat her fingers as Regina increased her movements. Emma smiled to herself, Regina had always been interested in sex but once Emma had introduced the idea of toys Regina became insatiable. 

“Oh, yes, Emma! Yes! Uhn! God!” Regina cried out as her hips started to tremble with the orgasm. 

Emma held her tighter in place and continued the slow circles that she knew drove Regina absolutely wild. Regina wilted heavily into Emma’s arms and small after shakes trembled through her body as she came down from her high. 

Emma allowed Regina a few moments rest before pulling back from Regina and walking happily to the wardrobe and pulling out a dark purple strap on and black leather harness.

“I hope you’re ready for some fun?” Emma asked with an evil grin as she sauntered back to bed.

* * *

The next morning it took Regina a long time to wake up and piece together what had happened and why she felt like she had run five consecutive marathons. She lazily turned her head to the side and realised she was alone and the sun was quite high in the sky.

All at once she remember the night before and her cheeks flushed with scarlet, not at the extended and exhilarating session she had shared with Emma but at the knowledge that she must have passed out at some point.

As Regina searched her memory she recalled the tell-tale exhaustion setting in about the same time as Emma ordered her to ride her face. Gripping onto the headboard and gasping as she rubbed her wet pussy over Emma’s open mouth she felt ready to collapse but she carried on regardless. 

She ignored the feeling of tiredness and continued on and pleasured Emma with the strap on. All the while wishing in the back of her mind the blonde would hurry up and finish as the burn in her muscles of her hips grew in intensity.

Beyond that it became hazy and with that Regina became frustrated, over two weeks had passed of intensive exercise and there was no improvement at all. In fact she felt even weaker and as she looked at the bedside table beside her she noticed a glass of water. She glared at the glass, knowing full well that she hadn’t got it which meant Emma and done so for her.

 _Mother was wrong_ , Regina thought to herself. _Love isn’t weakness. Weakness is weakness. And I am weak._

Regina looked at the glass, to her it was a symbol that Emma has observed the weakness within her, she had acknowledged it. Regina reached up and grabbed the glass and threw it across the room, satisfied when it shattered and water and glass shards fell to the floor.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Notes: I know it has been an absolute age since I last updated this, especially by my standards! Life has been very busy but I wanted to update this story as it's been playing on my mind a little lately. I initially said this would be a two-parter but it's grown in my mind now and will probably be more likely 4-5 chapters instead. Hope you enjoy!

Ruby walked into Regina’s office without knocking and quickly crossed the room and placed a paper takeout bag on her desk.

Regina looked up with a frown. “What’s that?”

“Lunch.”

“I-” Regina began.

“Don’t lie to me, Regina.” Ruby shook her head. “I know you’ve been skipping meals.”

Regina’s cheeks flared and Ruby knew she was on shaky ground and quickly continued, “You can’t take on more and more exercise without taking in more calories. If you continue to skip meals then our deal is off and I’ll not train with you anymore. And…and I’ll tell Emma everything.”

Ruby folded her arms and looked down at Regina with as neutral a face as she could manage despite fearing that a fireball was likely to be in her future. Regina stared up at Ruby with displeasure and slowly placed her hands on the arms of her chair and unhurriedly slid the chair back. She stood up and leaned on the desk and stared at Ruby and even though she was much shorter than Ruby the waitress could feel herself shake ever so slightly.

“Miss Lucas,” Regina said slowly. “I’ll have you know that I am perfectly capable of managing my own calorie intake, I’m also perfectly aware of the necessity to ingest more calories when one is exercising. I have not skipped any meals, in fact I have increased the number of them which is why I am not always seen eating at usual meal times. Now I suggest you sit down and you explain to me why you believe I have been skipping meals, or should I say, tell me if it was Henry or Emma who spoke with you and precisely what they said.”

Ruby fell into the chair in front of Regina’s desk and swallowed hard as she looked up at Regina’s terrifying figure. “Emma.”

“Dammit,” Regina sighed and pushed herself away from her desk and walked towards the window. She folded her arms and looked out of the window thoughtfully. “What did she say?”

“She told me you didn’t look well and that she thought you had skipped breakfast a few times in the last couple of weeks.” Ruby shifted uncomfortably.

“And?”

“And she asked if you had been going into the diner, apparently you had told her that you would pick something up there a few times. She asked me if you did.”

Regina spun around and glared. “And what did you say?”

“I didn’t say anything, I swear!” Ruby swallowed again. “I told her I didn’t know but I said I’d let her know if I found anything out.”

Regina pursed her lips and turned to look out of the window again. After a few moments silence she finally spoke again. “I see. Well, thank you for bringing me a meal and…” Regina waved her hand distractedly, “…for…caring.”

Ruby smiled, she knew such a statement was a big step for Regina and despite the fact they had been training every morning for the last five weeks she had yet to feel close to her.

“Ruby.” Regina turned around. “Why am I not getting any stronger? We’ve been training for a long time and I seem just as weak as when I started. In fact, I feel worse. Everything hurts. My stamina is less than it was before, if that’s even possible. I’ve been reading up and I’ve been eating all the right things, increasing my protein intake and…” 

Regina trailed off and leant her body against the wall as she stared down at her feet. “I’m not so old, am I?”

“No!” Ruby cried out, “no, of course you’re not. I…I don’t know why you’re not improving though. I know you’ve been struggling with injuries, like I said before I think maybe you’re doing too much-”

“No,” Regina interrupted, “no. If anything I’m not doing enough. No pain no gain.”

“Well, it doesn’t quite work like that.”

“I don’t understand.” Regina ignored her. “With the amount of exercise I do I should be getting somewhere by now but this,” She frowned and splayed her hand across her chest. “This pain, doesn’t seem to go away.”

“What pain?” Ruby stood up and regarded Regina with a worried look.

Regina lowered her hand and shook her head. “Sorry, no, pain is the wrong word. It’s like a feeling of exhaustion, like I can’t get my breath.”

“You should see Doctor Whale-”

“No.”

“But, Regina-”

“No,” Regina replied more firmly this time. “I will not go and see that buffoon. No.”

Ruby licked her lips nervously and straightened herself to her full height, whilst taking a small step backwards to be closer to the exit.

“If-if you’re in pain then I…I’m not going to train with you anymore,” Ruby announced. Regina’s expression darkened and her eyebrow raised and Ruby swallowed and took a step back. “I’m sorry, Regina, I can’t be your…your personal trainer if you refuse to listen to me. I really think you need to get yourself checked out…and I think we need to cut back on the exercise so if you won’t listen to your body then…then you’ll have to listen to me. I won’t be at the beach tomorrow morning.”

Regina cocked her head to one side and regarded Ruby with a dangerous smirk. Ruby knew the smirk all too well and quickly turned around and headed for the door before Regina could say, do or cast anything. She hurried out of the office and down the stairs and out into the street before she looked over her shoulder to be sure she was in the clear.

A few moments later she returned to the diner and Granny looked at her with interest. 

“Everything okay?” Granny asked.

Ruby nodded and grabbed hold of Granny’s arm and pulled her into the kitchen to speak with her away from the customers. She quickly relayed what had happened, glad that Granny already knew about the training sessions Ruby and Regina had been doing in the early mornings.

“Well,” Granny said thoughtfully. “You did the right thing. I know standing up to her can’t have been easy but at least now maybe she’ll stop her ridiculous schedule.”

“I hope so, I mean I know she could go training without me every morning but hopefully she won’t.”

“Who won’t?”

Both women jumped in shock at Henry’s voice and turned around to see the young boy looking at them with a kind smile.

“Oh, Henry, you scared us!” Granny said with a chuckle.

“Sorry, you said I could get those boxes for my school project?”

“Oh yes, let me just go and get them for you,” Granny said as she headed into the stock room.

Henry looked at Ruby with a smile. “Who are you training with? Is it Ma?”

Ruby smiled back, feeling cornered and hoping that Henry wouldn’t see the panic in her eyes. “Er. No, just a friend. I don’t think you know them…”

“Ma is trying to get me to be her training buddy but I hate running.”

“I like it,” Ruby admitted. “Must be the wolf in me.”

Henry laughed. “I prefer swimming, it’s cool now Mom is taking me swimming.”

Ruby attempted to mask her surprise. “Regina takes you swimming?”

“Yeah, we go three times a week. It was fun at first but now she’s getting really competitive, timing our laps and trying to increase the number we do each time.”

“Yeah, I bet,” Ruby grumbled lightly.

“She’s really slow though. The first time we went I beat her by miles and she got really grumpy, like, for hours after she was in a bad mood. So after that I’ve slowed down so she can beat me.”

“Good idea.” Ruby bit her lip. “Three times a week though, that’s a lot.”

“Yeah, she doesn’t want to tell Ma though, dunno why but don’t tell anyone.”

“I won’t.” Ruby smiled and patted his shoulder.

“Here are those boxes, Henry,” Granny returned and handed Henry a number of a folded down boxes.

“Cool, thanks!” Henry said his goodbyes and hurried out of the diner.

Ruby turned to Granny. “Did you hear that?”

“Yep,” Granny confirmed. “So, she goes training every morning with you AND swimming three times a week with Henry.”

“No wonder she’s been so exhausted,” Ruby shook her head. “And that explains all the injuries as well.”

“Typical Regina.” Granny shook her head and returned to the counter where a customer was waiting for her.

***  
“Regina?” Emma called out when she got home.

She listened for any indication of where in the large house her girlfriend might be and thought she could hear something upstairs.

“Regina? Are you home?” Emma called upstairs. 

Emma took the stairs two at a time, hoping that Regina was in the bedroom and would be persuaded to stay there for a while. It had been weeks since their last sexual encounter and Emma didn’t mind admitting that she was absolutely desperate for a repeat performance. However every time she made a move something seemed to interrupt, either Regina was sick or a sudden call came in from work. One time a pipe in the bathroom suddenly cracked causing a flood that Regina seemed unable to fix with her magic. Another a large gust of wind blew a branch of the apple tree into a downstairs window.

“Regina?” Emma called as she reached the top of the stairs, hearing sound from the master bedroom. 

As she opened the door she could have sworn she saw the remnants of purple mist and looked curiously at Regina. Regina stood in the middle of the room looking slightly out of breath, wearing a work skirt suit and looking somehow suspicious.

“What are you doing?” Emma asked and looked around the room for clues. “Having an affair? Did you just poof them into the wardrobe?”

“No!” Regina balked at the idea.

“I’m kidding!” Emma laughed. “I just saw the mist, what were you doing?”

“Cleaning,” Regina shrugged and turned towards the bathroom.

“You never use magic to clean, you said it’s a waste of magical energy,” Emma pointed out.

“Yes, well, I…spilt coffee on the carpet and knew it would stain.”

“Right,” Emma said as Regina retreated into the bathroom. Emma looked around the room but couldn’t see any sign of a coffee cup or a reason why Regina would be drinking coffee in the bedroom. 

Emma bit her lip as she decided what to do next. Regina hadn’t been herself for the last few weeks, signs of exhaustion were clear but the mention of them was certainly not welcomed and Emma had quickly learnt her lesson. 

Regina was easy to love but difficult to talk to and Emma knew that if something was up then she needed to use all of her detective skills to figure out what it was. There was no way that Regina would open up to her of her own free will. And if Regina thought that Emma was on to something then she would work even harder to cover up whatever it was. No, Emma knew that she had to play the dumb blonde and hope that Regina would slip up and leave a trail of clues for her to follow. She looked around the room. Or even one clue would do.

***  
Regina closed the bathroom door and let out a deep breath. That had been close. If Emma had arrived a second earlier she would have seen Regina in tatty workout clothes panting for breath while working out, and nearly passing out, to an exercise DVD. Regina knew she never would have heard the end of it and only just managed to get enough magical energy together to zap away the DVD, workout clothes and put herself together enough to escape to the bathroom.

“Regina, I was thinking we could have dinner at the seafood place by the beach?” Emma’s voice travelled through the closed bathroom door.

Regina rolled her eyes. She knew that Emma wanted sex. She’d spent the last month magicking telephone calls from work and burst water pipes to distract her girlfriend. She knew she couldn’t proclaim to be sick anymore, headaches were also out of the question or she would worry Emma too much. And her poor house couldn’t take anymore sudden accidents.

“Sounds lovely, dear,” Regina replied in her sweetest voice. 

She’d have to go to the romantic seafood restaurant, her favourite no less, and find out a way to avoid a sexual encounter afterwards as the evening progressed. 

“Cool, should I see if Henry wants to stay at my parents?”

“Absolutely!” Regina replied. As soon as she heard the door to the bedroom close as Emma went to make the call she let out a sigh. She approached the mirror above the sink and looked at her reflection. She looked tired and old but she felt worse. The intensive DVD had caused the pain in her hips and thighs to increase, despite her stretching before the workout. She waved her hand and her magic changed her outfit to a tight, black cocktail dress that she knew Emma favoured. Her makeup and hair fixed to perfection for a night out. 

She closed her eyes as she stumbled slightly forward. While magic was most certainly emotion it still caused very real physical reactions. As her body became more exhausted she was relying more and more on magic taking the strain. Even simple tasks like dressing and undressing were conducted by magic these days, meals were cooked through magic, rooms cleaned, the garden maintained. She had so little energy and her muscles ached so much that it would have been impossible to do things without a little help from her magic. But the more she used her magic the more drained she became.

Her online research had told her about a thing called “the wall” something that marathon runners and extreme athletes encountered. The exhaustion and dizziness that washed over her on occasions were clearly nothing more than her own weakened body’s version of the phenomenon. She knew that once she powered through and cleared the wall that she would feel better, she just had to keep going and her goals of stronger muscles and increased stamina would be reached.

She thought back to her conversation with Ruby and sniffed at the girl’s impertinence. She didn’t need Ruby telling her how to train her body, she had the wealth of the Internet. In fact, Regina was glad that Ruby wouldn’t be training with her anymore, many mornings the girl would stop the workout early proclaiming they had done enough. Regina presumed that Ruby had no idea of the wall and the fascinating riches of fitness that lay beyond it. 

“You are not old, you are not weak,” Regina whispered to her reflection. Please at the way the makeup covered her fatigue. “You are strong. You will be even stronger.”


	3. Chapter 3

As Regina glided down the stairs she saw Emma looking thoughtfully back up at her.

“What’s wrong?” Regina asked, realising that Emma was looking at her attire.

“Oh, nothing.” Emma shook her head.

“Out with it.” Regina paused on the sixth step and folded her arms as she looked down at Emma.

“I was just looking at your shoes…”

Regina frowned and looked at her heels.

“I mean,” Emma shook her head to get her thoughts in order. “I was wondering if maybe we should walk? It’s lovely weather and I know you love the view from the cliffs? But then I saw you in heels and didn’t want to suggest it because you’d have to change…”

Regina now understood fully and considered the options for a moment. The restaurant was on the beach in a secluded cove which had beautiful views of the ocean. There were two ways to access the building, one was a drive down a winding road that led to the car park and the other was to walk down the stone steps from the top of the cliffs. It wasn’t a very long walk and the views were breath-taking. Regina waved her hand and her high-heeled shoes were replaced with knee-high boots with a smaller, wider heel.

Emma grinned at the change and held out her arm for Regina to join her.

***

Emma stared out of the large window with a wistful smile. 

“Emma?”

Emma blinked and turned to face Regina. “Sorry, what?”

“I asked if you wanted another drink?” Regina indicated the empty glass in front of Emma. “Or do you want to go home?”

“I think I’m ready to go home.” Emma turned back towards the window where she could see the reflection of the sun glistening on the gentle waves of the ocean that stretched out as far as she could see. “Just enjoying the view.”

“Me too,” Regina said.

Emma looked at her girlfriend’s reflection in the window and noted that Regina was looking at her rather than out of the window at the view. She smiled and turned back to face Regina.

“Can I get you anything else, ladies?”

Regina looked up at the waiter with a smile. “No, thank you, we’re ready to pay.”

He picked up the empty dessert plates. “Was everything to your liking?”

“Perfect, as always,” Regina replied.

A few minutes later and the couple had paid and exited the restaurant and began climbing the stone stairs up the side of the cliff. 

“So when you cursed everyone,” Emma began, “You know, sent them somewhere awful. Was this really what you had in mind?”

Regina chuckled as she held onto the railing and climbed the stairs. “No, not exactly.”

“Well, I’m not going to complain,” Emma replied.

“Good or I shall curse you to a fate worse than death,” Regina joked.

“An all-inclusive beach hut in the Maldives?” Emma asked with a smirk.

Emma paused and looked back at the ocean scene, she took a deep breath of refreshing sea air and smiled to herself. Regina’s most evil deed was to bring everyone she hated to a seaside town in Maine and provide them with modern comforts and safety. Then to top it all off she put herself in charge of the not inconsiderable job of managing the town. 

“Emma.”

Emma looked up at Regina who was a few steps further up than she was. Regina’s face was pale and she held her hand over her stomach.

“Dodgy prawns?” Emma joked, attempt to ward off the fear that had suddenly gripped her.

“E-Em…” Regina tried again, falling backwards.

Emma bounded up the steps and caught Regina as she fell, holding her slightly above the hard stone steps. “Regina, what is it? Talk to me.”

Regina frowned as if not even understanding what Emma was saying and it was then that Emma noticed that Regina’s right eye seemed unresponsive. Emma scanned Regina’s face for further clues while gently calling her name in the hope that Regina would suddenly recover and everything would be okay.

Emma adjusted her grip so she could lift Regina into her arms and focused all of her energy on magically transporting the pair of them to the emergency room of the hospital. As soon as they materialised a nearby nurse shouted for assistance and pulled a stretcher towards Emma and helped her to lay Regina down.

“What happened?”

“She…I…” Emma panicked. She stared at Regina’s prone form, wondering why Regina was looking at her blankly but unable to hear or talk to her. Emma opened and closed her mouth as she looked helplessly on.

“Sheriff,” the nurse barked, “I need you to tell me exactly what happened, right now.”

Emma shook her head to clear the cobwebs. “We were climbing up from La Mer, up the cliff steps, we were about halfway when she said my name. She looked unwell and then started to fall backwards. She, she couldn’t speak. She tried but she couldn’t get the words out.”

Victor Whale appeared and began directing staff.

“Her eye, it seemed to be drooping…and…” Emma paused for a split second as realisation came over her. “Her face…it’s a stroke isn’t it? She’s had a stroke?”

Regina was already being wheeled into a room and the loud noises of medical staff calling out to each other and machines being used seemed deafening to Emma. 

The nurse took Emma’s arm and guided her to a seat. “We are doing everything, I promise you. Is there anyone you’d like me to call? Your parents?”

Emma blinked in confusion. She had no idea what to do next. If she told her parents then Henry would know but she didn’t know if that was the right thing to do or not. Emma found herself wishing, and not for the first time, for some kind of manual on how to raise a child. 

“I’ll call your mother.” The nurse decided for her and Emma mutely nodded. 

Emma turned around and looked at the closed doors where Regina had been taken. She could hear muffled voices but couldn’t make anything out. Emma replayed the evening back in her mind, the meal, the conversation, the jokes. Everything had been perfect and then out of the blue Regina was…

“Emma? What are you doing here?”

Emma looked up to see Ruby looking at her curiously. 

“Ruby,” Emma whispered hoarsely.

“Oh my God, what’s happening?” Ruby asked and looked at the nurse for help.

“Mayor Mills is in the Emergency Room,” the nurse answered softly.

Ruby sat down next to Emma and pulled the stunned blonde into a tight hug. “Everything is going to be fine.”

“You don’t know that,” Emma countered.

“Yeah I do, it’s a wolf thing, we know shit like this,” Ruby replied.

Despite the tears streaming down her face Emma snorted a small laugh. “I hope you’re right, it was so sudden. One minute we were having dinner together and the next she…kind of fainted or something.”

“Tell me exactly what happened.”

Emma relayed the events exactly to Ruby and Ruby bit her lip nervously. Emma noticed the movement. “What is it? What do you know?”

“We…well, first she totally forced me to keep this a secret and you know what Regina’s like when-”

“I know.” Emma nodded her understanding. “I really don’t care; whatever it is I just need to know in case it can help her now.”

Ruby let out a breath. “We’ve been training, like running and stuff, in the mornings when you’ve worked the nightshift and in the afternoons when you’re on days.”

Emma blinked in shock. “Regina? Running? Like…running? For training and not because my mom stole her lasagne recipe?” 

Ruby inclined her head and lowered her voice. “She said she had been feeling bad about her fitness.”

Emma frowned and searched her memory for any mention of it from Regina.

“She didn’t want to tell you because…well…” Ruby took a deep breath and released it quickly as she said, “She felt she didn’t have any stamina. In the bedroom. She wanted to get fit so she could keep up with you.”

Emma remained speechless for several seconds. “Fuck.”

“I could see she was struggling and I like halved my usual session, I always brought lots of water and protein snacks and I tried to get her to take it easy but she didn’t always listen. When she wasn’t showing any results she wanted to push it more.”

“This is my fault,” Emma mumbled.

“No, no, it’s mine,” Ruby said sadly. “Do…do you think it was a heart attack? Climbing up those stairs-”

“I should have driven us,” Emma said as she felt the full force of guilt come crashing down on her. “I should have questioned her more, I knew something was up.”

“You can’t blame yourself, Em.”

Emma stared at the floor. She replayed all the moments over the last weeks where she had been on the edge of questioning Regina about her exhaustion. Suddenly lots of pieces of the puzzle were falling into place.

“She’s been swimming with Henry too,” Ruby added.

Emma snapped her head up to look at Ruby. “He never said.”

“She asked him to keep it a secret too,” Ruby whispered.

“Mom!” Henry ran into the waiting room and skidded to a halt as he looked at Emma. It was clear from his face that he had taken one look at Emma’s expression and came to the worst conclusion.

“She’s gonna be okay, Kid.” Emma tried to smile.

“Emma? What’s going on?” Mary Margaret rushed into the waiting room, out of breath from running from the car. 

Emma quickly relayed Regina’s collapse and tried to sound upbeat despite secretly fearing the worst. 

“The doctors are going to need to know if your mom has been overdoing it,” Emma said softly to Henry. “Do you know if she’s been stressed lately or maybe doing more exercise?”

“We go swimming, she said not to tell you. She said she wanted it to be our thing, I don’t know why,” Henry immediately gave up the secret.

“I saw her at a spinning class last week,” Mary Margaret said.

“Spinning class?” Emma’s mind swam with images of Regina running, swimming and now cycling like a lunatic. 

“Yes, I was taking Neal to a mommy and me swimming class and she was in one of the studios. I thought you knew.”

“I don’t mean to eavesdrop.” The nurse who first spoke to Emma and had been in the waiting room ever since spoke up. “But Katherine Nolan was in here two weeks ago with a sprained ankle, she mentioned that she had been training for the ten-mile fun run she is organising for the summer.”

“Let me guess,” Emma let out a long sigh and pinched the bridge of her nose. “Training with Regina.”

The nurse nodded. “Yes, I’m afraid so.”

Emma looked at Ruby. “So, she’s been running with you, swimming with Henry, doing a spinning class and training for a half marathon with Katherine.”

“That we know of,” Mary Margaret added.

Emma spun around to regard her mother who simply shrugged her shoulders. “We all know how Regina can get when she sets her mind on a project. She must have decided to get fit.”

Emma nodded her head in agreement, not wanting to go any further with that conversation with her mother and son in the room. She turned to face the nurse, “Assuming that she was doing that level of activity and previously she did…well, basically none. What could that do to her body? Could that cause this?”

The nurse held her hand up delicately. “Sheriff, I really can’t speculate on what-”

“Please, Marie,” Mary Margaret interrupted. 

“Theoretically,” Emma added.

“I’m not a doctor,” Marie replied carefully.

“Just tell us what you do know,” Mary Margaret requested kindly.

Marie took a breath. “Well, excessive exercise can cause many problems. Your body can enter a catabolic state where your muscle tissues break down and you can get microscopic tears in your muscle fibres. If you get these then you’re more likely to get further injuries and no injury can heal if you don’t rest up. Over-exercise can even lower your immune system.”

“You’re holding back,” Emma pointed out. “Please…just say it.”

Marie bit her lip and looked at the anxious faces around her. “It’s…pretty well documented that sustained over-exercising can put enormous strain on your heart. Extended periods of very vigorous exercise can increase a person’s risk of cardiac incidents seven-fold.”

“I’ve read about that,” Mary Margaret spoke up. “Marathon runners, especially those who don’t recover properly before continuing training, have heart scarring, enlarged hearts.”

“Exactly, over-exercise can post a real danger.” Marie looked towards Henry kindly. “But your mother is very strong and Doctor Whale is doing everything he can.”

Henry silently nodded his head and Emma wrapped him in a hug. Even though he was no longer the ten-year-old boy she first met when she arrived, he was still a sensitive child and his reliance on stability was no different to any other child. 

“I think it’s safe to say that Regina has overdone it a little and her body is telling her that it’s time to take it easy,” Emma spoke to the gathered women. She regarded them determinedly in the hope that they would all understand the message.

“Absolutely.” Mary Margaret caught on first. “And it’s not the first time this has happened.”

Henry and Emma looked at her with shock. 

“It isn’t?” Henry asked first.

“No.” Mary Margaret smiled and shook her head as she remembered. “It was when I was a little older than you, Henry. A Prince from a faraway land had come to the castle and was demonstrating a new game to us. Father was away on business and Regina was very interested in the new game and wanted to completely master it. The Prince made a small wager that we, as women, would never be able to beat him.”

Emma laughed. “I can see where this is going.”

“She practiced all night, refused to sleep. It was summer so it was incredibly hot in the castle, no air conditioning back then.” Mary Margaret chuckled to herself at the memory. “I went to see her in the morning and her maid told me that she had passed out from exhaustion.”

“Sheriff.”

Emma looked up to see Victor Whale calling her, his expression neutral. She took a shaky step towards him.

“She’s recovering, she’ll be fine,” he announced to the group before looking at Emma. “Can I speak with you in private?”

Emma nodded and followed him to a room where he closed the door. He didn’t waste any time. “Regina suffered a transient ischaemic attack, a TIA, do you know what that is?”

“No,” Emma breathed, “Sounds fucking terrible though.”

“It’s basically a mini stroke,” Whale explained. “It is when there is a temporary disruption in blood flow to the brain.”

Emma nodded, her first instinct had been right. “Is she going to be okay?” Emma asked, she didn’t want a medical lesson, she wanted information.

Whale let out a breath. “A TIA is fortunately not as serious as a stroke; the effects can usually resolve themselves within twenty-four hours. But Regina is young and healthy so I need to examine what caused it, see if there is any underlying illness.”

“Could excessive exercise cause it?”

Whale frowned but quickly nodded. “Yes, definitely. Has she been exercising more than usual?”

“Nought to sixty in a few weeks,” Emma muttered. “I don’t know the extent of it but she’s gone from sitting behind a desk to practically running a marathon every damn day.”

“That’s extremely danger-”

“I know!”

Whale held his hands up defensively and Emma let out a sigh. “I’m sorry, I’m sorry. I don’t mean to take it out on you. I just didn’t know myself. Until now.”

“Ah.”

“Will there be any permanent damage?” Emma asked, almost too afraid to know the answer.

“Time will tell. The TIA was relatively mild and has passed. However, the cause would probably have been atrial fibrillation, which would have been caused by over-doing it with the exercise without sufficient breaks to recover. We will have to run some more tests to see how her heart is doing. How long has she been exercising for?”

“A couple of months, I think.”

“I would think a full recovery could be made.”

Emma looked up at him with relief. “Are you sure?”

“We can never be one hundred percent sure but I’m fairly confident that Regina isn’t going to let a little thing like her own mortality get in the way.”

Emma let out a small laugh. “Can I see her?”

“Can I stop you?” Whale snorted a laugh. “She’s unconscious and will be for while a yet, she can have a small number of visitors for a small amount of time but then I will have to insist that she is left to rest. We all know that the second she is awake she’ll be demanding to be released.”

“She won’t be leaving until you have done whatever tests you need to do and she’s had whatever amount of bedrest you deem necessary,” Emma told him seriously.

Whale regarded her for a moment, seemingly impressed with her bravery. Although probably assuming her bravery was foolhardy and probably trying to remember what the Sheriff looked like before Regina decapitated her. 

***

It was the middle of the night. The nurses had long since given up trying to convince Emma to go home or even sleep. Henry and Mary Margaret had briefly looked in on Regina’s sleeping form before Mary Margaret took the boy home. Emma decided to stay, she wanted to be there when Regina woke up and was so desperate to see that she was well that she refused to sleep. Sitting ramrod straight in a chair beside Regina’s bed she watched the steady rhythm of Regina’s breathing and reminded herself that everything was going to be okay.

Eyes started to flicker open and Emma sat a little forward and watched as dark brown eyes appeared. 

“Hey,” Emma whispered softly.

Regina’s eyes danced around the room with confusion before they finally settled on Emma’s face. “Hey,” she croaked back, her voice raw.

“Welcome back.” Emma scooted forward and gently held Regina’s hand. “You’re in the hospital, you’re fine but you need to rest.”

“I’m sorry.”

“No need to be sorry,” Emma said with a bittersweet smile. “Just rest and get better.”

“What happened?” Regina pushed.

Emma swallowed and looked away for a moment to regain her composure. When she looked back to Regina she could feel that her eyes had filled with tears. “You had a minor stroke.”

Regina’s eyes bugged wide. “A-a stroke?”

“You’re going to be fine,” Emma reassured. 

“H-how did…”

Emma sighed. She knew Regina wouldn’t let go of the topic until she knew exactly what had landed her in the hospital. “You put too much strain on your heart with…” Emma swallowed. “The exercise.”

Shock registered on Regina’s face and Emma wiped her eyes with her free hand and squeezed Regina’s hand comfortingly. “But none of that matters now, you’re safe, you’re going to be fine and we can talk about it once you’ve rested.”

Regina softly nodded her head, knowing full well that arguing with Emma was pointless.

“Sleep now,” Emma whispered and was relieved when Regina’s eyelids fluttered closed again.


	4. Chapter 4

Two days went by in a flurry of hospital tests and well-wishing visitors. Emma didn’t say a word about Regina’s exercise schedule and just did all she could to make Regina comfortable and help her to recover. On the second day Victor Whale announced that Regina could continue her recovery from home. The scans showed some damage to Regina’s heart but he remained confident that rest would heal all.

“You should be asleep.”

Regina watched Emma enter the bedroom and regarded her with a soft smile. The truth was that Regina was sick of sleeping. When she’d first come round after the stroke she was so exhausted that she thought she’d be able to sleep for a week. Turns out that after a day and a half she was wide awake and fed up with being in bed. 

“I’ve been sleeping.” Regina lowered her book down to her lap and removed her reading glasses.

“Liar,” Emma muttered through a grin. “I bet you picked up that book the second I left three hours ago.”

“Maybe.”

“Definitely, you’re halfway through it and yesterday you were only a few pages in.”

Regina faltered, knowing that she had been caught in a lie. “I’m bored.”

“How are you feeling?” Emma sat on the bed and looked seriously at Regina, demanding an honest answer with her eyes.

“Well.”

Emma tilted her head. “Really?”

Regina nodded. “I feel physically well. Emotionally, I feel foolish.”

“Do you want to tell me what happened?” 

Regina shook her head and let out a small, embarrassed laugh. “I’m sure you’ve heard it all.”

“Not from you,” Emma argued. “Archie told me that you went horse riding with him because you felt like getting back in the saddle. Katherine told me you went running with her to catch up with an old friend. Ashley told me you went spinning because you wanted to show an interest in the community centre sports hall-”

“Okay, I get it,” Regina interrupted.

“I think the only person who came close to hearing the truth was Ruby,” Emma continued.

Regina felt her breath catch. “I-I…well, Ruby…”

“Regina, I love you. I love you completely, fully. I love all of you with all of me.” Emma paused and she looked away hoping but failing to hide the tears filling in her eyes. She sniffed and composed herself before looking back at Regina. “I cannot lose you. I just…I couldn’t ever imagine losing you. I need you to promise me that you will tell me if anything is ever bothering you. No matter how big or how small. Even if you think it will tear us apart, I need to know. Because the truth is this; the only thing that will tear us apart is you not telling me when something is bothering you.”

“Emma, I-”

“I’m not finished.” Emma stood up and folded her arms and she slowly paced the room. “Seeing you collapse like that…it made me realise how important our life together is to me. And how nothing, and I mean nothing, can threaten that.”

Emma paused at the end of the bed and looked at Regina seriously. The tears were now falling freely down her cheeks. “I need you to promise me, Regina. Right now. I need you promise me that you’ll talk to me about things. I promise the same to you, I know I’m not great at opening up sometimes but I will now. I promise. I need you to do the same.”

“I promise,” Regina said, emphasising each syllable.

Emma smiled and wiped the tears away from her cheeks. She walked around the bed and sat on the edge beside Regina. “So…what’s going on inside that big, beautiful brain of yours?”

Regina chuckled before taking a deep breath. “It will sound silly.”

“If it bothers you then it’s not silly.”

Regina could tell that Emma meant the sentiment. “I felt old. So terribly old. You’re always so fit and energetic and you train at the gym and go for runs and I…I didn’t do anything. But…” Regina took another deep breath. “It was…during sex that I really felt the difference between our…levels of physical fitness.”

Emma frowned in confusion and Regina let out a laugh. “Come on, Emma, you can’t tell me you hadn’t noticed?”

“Noticed what?” Emma seemed genuinely confused. “Ruby said something about you wanting to improve your stamina but I still don’t get why.”

Regina opened her mouth in shock. “Emma, please, when we have a…particularly strenuous session I’m always utterly useless to you.”

Emma jumped to her feet in surprise and stared at Regina. “That’s…that’s crazy!”

Regina raised her eyebrow. “Is it really? You must have noticed that I can’t keep up with you? That I’m always panting for breath like some…some old woman. Sweating and…and panting. Half conscious and-”

“Do you not enjoy sex with me?” Emma asked in a quiet voice. 

Regina jumped out of the bed and pulled Emma into a tight hold. “My darling, I love sex with you. I wanted to improve sex with you. Scratch that, I wanted to improve sex FOR you, I wanted to give you what you give to me.”

Emma wrapped her arms tightly around Regina.

“Moms?” Henry tentatively asked from outside the closed bedroom door.

The women stepped away from each other and tried to wipe the tears from their eyes.

“Come in, Henry,” Regina called out softly. She took a seat on the edge of the bed and watched the door open.

Henry looked curiously from one to the other, uncertain of whether or not to bring up their clearly emotional state. “Er, I’ll come back later…”

“No, it’s okay, Henry. What is it?” Regina asked.

“There’s a delivery for you,” Henry looked at Regina. “It’s, like, really big.”

Regina blushed as she suddenly remembered the home gym equipment she had ordered to be delivered in the middle of the day when Emma would have been at work. She had intended to put the large machine in one of the spare bedrooms and enchant it so it couldn’t be seen.

“Just have them put it in the hallway, I’ll…I’ll deal with it later.”

Henry looked at Emma briefly as if to check that she agreed before nodding his head and closing the door again.

Regina turned to Emma. “Emma, darling, I have never, ever not enjoyed making love to you. I merely felt too weak to reciprocate what you give to me.”

“I never wanted you to reciprocate. I love making love to you, God, Regina…you’re the best sexual partner I have ever had. Could ever dream of having. To think that…hold on, this is why you’ve been avoiding sex!”

Regina blushed. “Only until I felt I was fit enough to keep up with you! Or because I had a muscle injury. No other reason.”

Emma sat on the bed with a stunned expression. 

Regina grabbed Emma’s hand and held it softly in her own. “I went about this completely the wrong way, I understand that now, really I do. But at the time I just felt like…like I was too old for you. Like you would one day get bored of me, realise how old and unfit I am and go and find a younger partner.”

“With all the portal jumping, curses and missing years I have no idea how old any of us are anymore but you are, give or take, six years older than me not sixty. Yes, we have different fitness levels but that’s only natural. We’re different people who have led very different lives.”

“I felt weak,” Regina said so quietly that she wondered if Emma would pick up on it. Of course Emma knew of Cora’s mantra that love was weakness.

“You are one of the strongest people I know,” Emma replied firmly. “You have been to hell and back, literally and more. You stand up against things that would send most people running in the opposite direction. You are in no way weak.”

“But I feel weak when…” Regina trailed off.

Emma nodded her understanding. “You feel weak when you’re exhausted during sex.” Emma let out a small laugh. “The irony is, I thought you enjoyed that. I…I kinda went out of my way to…you know…”

“Knock me out?” Regina smirked.

“Yeah,” Emma admitted with a curled lip.

Regina let out a long sigh. “I’m so sorry.”

Emma sat beside Regina and wrapped her arm around Regina’s shoulder. “So am I.”

“I nearly killed myself for vanity.” Regina shuddered at the thought. “I just wanted to be fitter for you. To be able to keep up with you.”

“We can exercise together,” Emma offered. “But you only exercise with me and you do as I say.”

“Are you sure it’s a good idea for me to exercise again?” 

“Sure, all things in moderation. Moderate exercise is good for everyone, it’s just finding out what moderate is for that particular person. I’ve jogged and run my whole life, I have a really fast metabolism and I love going to the gym. You’ve not exactly had access to a cross trainer and you were a bit busy ruling realms.”

“That’s true,” Regina allowed. “I’ve never been an athlete but I’ve never felt physically weak before.”

“I hate to say it, Regina, but you’ll probably never reach my level of fitness. Some of us just aren’t designed that way.”

“Oh, I don’t want to reach your level of fitness. Not anymore.” Regina shook her head and snuggled into Emma’s hold. “I just don’t want to die.”

Emma’s grip on Regina tightened. “I’m not going to let that happen. And neither are you because you’re going to tell me everything. Aren’t you?”

“There’s a multi-gym in the hallway,” Regina mumbled. “I asked for it to be delivered today, in the middle of the day, when I thought you’d be at work.”

Regina cringed and waited for Emma’s reaction and was relieved when she heard Emma laugh lightly. 

“Wow, you really go all out, don’t you?”

Regina sniffed. “I don’t like losing.”

Emma chuckled and convinced Regina to go back to bed, to read if not to sleep. She promised that as soon as Regina was fit and able they would exercise. Together.

***

Regina stepped into the diner and approached the counter.

“Madam Mayor,” Granny greeted her. “What can I get you?”

Regina strained to look into the kitchen. “Actually, Mrs Lucas, I was hoping to speak with Ruby if she’s available?”

Granny smiled her understanding and bellowed Ruby’s name. A moment later Ruby came bursting through the doors from the kitchen clearly wondering what kind of trouble she was in and why. Granny thumbed in Regina’s direction and walked past Ruby into the kitchen.

“Hey Regina.” Ruby smiled. “Great to see you, it’s been a while.”

Regina leaned on the counter and looked down at her interlaced fingers as she considered her words. “I…I wanted to apologise.”

“No need,” Ruby said quickly.

Regina looked up curiously. “But-”

“Regina, I really enjoyed training with you. It was great to hang out and get to know you. There’s not a person I know who hasn’t pushed the exercise a bit far, everyone gets an injury or two along the way. I’m just glad you’re okay.”

“Thank you.” Regina could feel a blush forming on her cheeks. “But I still must apologise for my behaviour and thank you for trying to look out for me. Even if I made it very difficult.”

Ruby laughed. “I didn’t expect anything less. As I say, it was great to get to know you. I know we’re not training together anymore but maybe we could still hang out sometimes? Me and Belle are going to the Rabbit Hole on Friday, maybe you could join us?”

Regina hadn’t expected the offer and paused in surprise.

“Emma’s more than welcome to come too, of course,” Ruby added.

“Y-yes,” Regina stuttered. “That would be lovely. Thank you.”

“Great, I’ll text you the details.” Ruby smiled. “Can I get you anything?”

Regina shook her head. “No, thank you. I better be going.”

They exchanged goodbyes and Regina headed out of the diner and walked back towards her office. It had been a week since she had been cleared from bedrest and two since her stroke. All of her tests had come back and were showing that she had somehow made a full recovery, she knew how lucky she was and she wasn’t about to take that for granted. 

Emma had created an exercise calendar, one where they could both partake in extremely mild exercise on a regular basis. Henry had decided to join them on their venture, though Regina was convinced that was only to keep an eye on her rather than any desire to exercise.

“Regina.”

Regina paused and turned around to see Emma approaching her. She smiled and kissed Emma on the cheek. “Darling, having an early lunch?”

“Coming to see you,” Emma admitted.

“Oh?” Regina frowned, wondering if she had missed a lunch date.

“Just worried about you still.” Emma blushed, not making eye contact.

Regina grabbed Emma’s chin and angled her face so she could look her girlfriend in the eye. “There’s nothing to worry about. Doctor Whale is happy with my progress, I’m fit and healthy and the most exhausting thing I’ve done today is have a meeting with your mother about funding for the new school garden.”

Emma chuckled. “I just can’t help but worry a little.”

“It’s been two weeks…” Regina started.

“I know I just worry, I just keep-”

“No, Emma,” Regina placed a finger over Emma’s lips. “Listen to me, it’s been two weeks.” Regina stared at Emma for a moment.

Emma frowned in confusion and then realisation dawned. “Oh…Oh! T-two weeks!”

Regina thought back to Emma’s embarrassed blush when she had asked Doctor Whale when Regina would be able to engage in sexual activities again. Regina had tried her best not to laugh out loud at Emma’s stammering question and use of the phrase “sexual activities”. Whale seemed to enjoy thinking about the question too much for Regina’s liking but eventually came up with a timeframe of two weeks from the date of the incident. Regina had counted each day down with increasing frustration. 

“Mary Margaret is having Henry over this evening. I’m cooking your favourite meal and you are going to bring your handcuffs home.” Regina leaned closer and whispered sexily in Emma’s ear, “You see, my dear, I’m at peace with the fact that you will always be fitter than me but that doesn’t mean that I have to play fair. Tonight you will be at…my…mercy.”

Regina spun on her heel, satisfied at leaving Emma heaving for breath on the sidewalk. She’d realised that weakness wasn’t something that could easily be measured and physical strength was only one part of many different factors. She may never share the same physical fitness as her partner but that didn’t mean she couldn’t even the playing field in other ways.

THE END


End file.
